Worcester DPW employee turns work into workout

By any standard, Mark Clemente has a physically demanding job. A truck driver and laborer for the Worcester Department of Public Works, Clemente splits his work day by either tossing trash bags into the back of a sanitation truck or driving while his partner picks up. Since Clemente often jogs along the road while he's picking up, he might run several miles while lifting seven tons of trash during each shift.

PHOTO/ T&G Staff Photos/CHRISTINE PETERSON

Mark Clemente, a driver and laborer for the Worcester Department of Public Works jogs alongside the truck as he scoops up trash off Main Street in the Brookline Street neighborhood recently.

By any standard, Mark Clemente has a physically demanding job.

A truck driver and laborer for the Worcester Department of Public Works, Clemente splits his work day by either tossing trash bags into the back of a sanitation truck or driving while his partner picks up.

Those yellow bags that city residents leave by the curb can weigh 30 pounds apiece, and each truck collects 14 tons per day on routes that average 10 miles. Since Clemente often jogs along the road while he's picking up, he might run several miles while lifting seven tons of trash during each shift.

That would seem to be enough exercise for anyone. So what does the 40-year-old do in his off time? He lifts weights before work and goes running afterward.

"A lot of people call me crazy," he said recently after finishing his shift and heading home to Holden for an afternoon run. "They think I should be home sleeping."

Clemente, who is married and has a 14-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, has been working for the city for 14 years. He played football his freshman year at North High School and he lifted weights. In his mid-20s, he took up running.

"I usually go running after work," he said. "I average 25 to 30 miles a week."

Clemente has run the 7.1-mile Falmouth Road Race and a number of local 5Ks, especially around Thanksgiving.

To warm up for his work day, Clemente hits World Gym in the Greendale Mall at 5 in the morning.

He finds that running and lifting make him stronger on the job, and that the physical nature of his job in turn makes him a stronger runner and lifter. "It definitely helps, big time," he said.

Clemente says the additional exercise he gets at work is the best part of his job. "You feel like you've accomplished something during the day," he said.

The worst part? The weather.

"You work in every kind of condition out there — rain, sleet, snow, 100 degrees. It has to get done," he said.

And as you might expect, Clemente has little sympathy for people who say they don't have the time to exercise.

"There's always time," he said.

A new study suggests that children who are the most physically fit do better in absorbing and retaining challenging new information, The New York Times reported last month.

Researchers at the University of Illinois said the study shows the importance of recess and other physical activity at schools.

"The more difficult something is to learn, the more physical fitness may aid children in learning it," the authors of the study wrote.

"Reducing or eliminating physical education in schools, as is often done in tight financial times, may not be the best way to ensure educational success among our young people."

No Excuses is a monthly feature that focuses on busy people who manage to make fitness part of their lives. If you or someone you know have figured out how to manage that healthy balance, we'd like to hear about it. Contact us at people@telegram.com.